Artur Beterbiev became the first undisputed light-heavyweight champion since Roy Jones Jr with a closely fought victory over Dmitry Bivol.
Beterbiev’s pressure and aggression ultimately picked him up more rounds on the scorecards against Bivol, whose elite movement and fast hands made a strong case for his own win. Opinion is divided on the outcome and, naturally, an immediate rematch is being discussed.
Speaking to The Stomping Ground, Beterbiev trainer John Scully said that, despite his man saying he would consider a move to cruiserweight, there is plenty left to do at 175 pounds, not least face Bivol again.
“Looking forward, you have [David] Benavidez who’s in there and you have [Joshua] Buatsi, who’s really strong. That could be a nuclear war fight. So there are fights at light-heavy, 100%.
We wouldn’t need to go to cruiserweight. No disrespect at all, but I don’t even know any cruiserweights or who the champions are. So fights with Benavidez and Buatsi, I think those would be big light-heavyweight fights. But I think everybody in the world would say today they have to do a rematch. I think everybody would say that.”
Fans, fighters, promoters and pundits alike all agree that a second fight is not just warranted but widely appealing. On improvements that can be made on the undisputed champion’s part, the trainer said he had already noted things he would work on.
“Little techniques, little strategies. I would like to work on his jab. A different kind of jab than he was using in this fight. I think there was a different way to approach it. Just little details that I think we could use that we didn’t use last night.”
Both men are expected to rest and recover from the twelve round war and return in 2025.
